Disposable panty with improved crotch construction

ABSTRACT

A disposable panty has an improved crotch construction in which two auxiliary layers, of the same material as the panty, are disposed over the crotch area. The panty is made from a single sheet of material, all portions cut as a contiguous blank.

United States Patent Benevento 51 Jan. 25, 1972 154] DISPOSABLE PANTYWITH IMPROVED CROTCH CONSTRUCTION [72] Inventor: Joseph Benevento,Brooklyn, NY.

[73] Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Necnah,

Wis.

[22} Filed: May 21,1969

[2]] Appl.No.: 826,347

[52] 11.5. C1. ..l28/29l, 2/224 A, 128/288 [51] Int. Cl. ..A6lf 13/16[58] Field ofSearch ..2/224 A, 224, 238, 225,226,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,490,303 4/1924 Woody..2/238 UX 2,122,417 7/1938 Fridolph ..2/238 X 2,494,292 1/1950 Frazer128/288 2,748,772 6/1956 Titone et a1... 1 28/288 3,368,562 2/1968 Vogt1 28/284 3,424,162 1/1969 Parravicim... 128/288 3,488,778 1/1970 Gou onet al ..2/224 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 523,645 4/1956 Canada 128/284 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Wolfe, Hubbard,Leydig, Voit & Osann [5 7] ABSTRACT A disposable panty has an improvedcrotch construction in which two auxiliary layers, of the same materialas the panty, are disposed over the crotch area. The panty is made froma single sheet of material, all portions cut as a contiguous blank.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures DISPOSABLE PANTY WITI-I IMPROVED CROTCIICONSTRUCTION CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Charlotte I.Richard application Ser. No. 790,397 filed Jan. 10, I969, Charlotte I.Richard application Ser. No. 83l,l l9 filed June 6, 1969, now abandoned,and Marion A. McCurry application Ser. No. 825,156 filed May 16, I969.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS The present invention relates generally todisposable panties. More particularly, it concerns the provision of adisposable panty, and method of making the same, wherein all fabricportions are formed from a single sheet of fabric material as acontiguous blank.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a disposablepanty of improved construction, wherein all fabric portions of the pantyare cut as a contiguous blank from a single sheet of fabric material. Anassociated object is to provide such panty, and method of making thesame, which lends itself to high-volume low-cost fabrication.

Another object of the invention is to provide a disposable pantyutilizing to full advantage the inherently advantageous properties ofnonwoven fabric, both to afford economies in manufacture andadvantageous in use.

Other and more particular objects, aims, and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. I is a blank of fabric material usedin manufacturing the disposable panty of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a disposable panty embodying the presentinvention, with a fragment of the front portion thereof removed toreveal the internal structure;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along lines 33 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective of the crotch construction ofthepanty ofFlGS. I through 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION While the invention is susceptible of variousmodifications and alternative forms, certain specific embodimentsthereof have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings which will bedescribed in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that it isnot intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosedbut, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Turning now to the drawings and particularly FIG. 2, there is shown adisposable panty having a front body portion 9, a rear body portion 10,and a crotch area 13, the three being interconnected to define a pair ofleg openings, viz, left leg opening 11 and right leg opening I2. Topermit a single panty size to fit different sized users, an elastic band14 is sewed around the waist of the panty, and a pair of elastic bands15 and 16 are sewed around the left and right leg openings 11 and I2,respectively.

The panty may be made of any suitable disposable material, but oneparticularly preferred fabric material comprises a nonwoven crossedthread fabric having an open mesh construction, with an applique of finecotton fibers adhesively bonded to at least one side thereof. Thenonwoven fabric comprises a set of spaced warp thread which extend inthe machine direction, and a set of spaced fill threads which extendacross the warp threads in the transverse direction. Thus, the two setsof threads are disposed in face-to-face relation to each other, and areadhesively bonded together where the threads of one set cross thethreads of the other set. The threads are typically made of nylon, rayonor the like. The cotton appliques are formed by depositing fine fiberson the crossed thread fabric in a random manner, such as by air formingor the like. The thickness of the applique may be varied to provide thecomposite material with the desired softness, bulk, feel, and othercharacteristics.

In keeping with an important aspect of the present invention, twoauxiliary layers of the material constituting the fabric of thedisposable panty are positioned and retained in the inside crotch areaof the panty. The auxiliary layers are secured to the crotch area of thepanty defining a part of the leg opening, so that the auxiliary layerscooperate with the crotch area to form a pocket or receptacle for asanitary napkin. Thus, in the illustrative embodiment, and as shown inFIGS. 2 and 4, a top auxiliary layer 20 is disposed over the crotch areanear the wearer, and a medial auxiliary layer 40 is disposedintermediate the contiguous crotch area 1.3 and the top auxiliary layer20. As indicated, the edges 21 and 22 of the auxiliary layers and thecrotch area are sewed together at the leg openings 11 and 12, althoughthe details of this construction are best deferred until FIGS. 1 and 3are described in detail.

By including a top auxiliary layer 20 and a medial auxiliary layer 40between the wearer and the contiguous crotch area 13, and by sewing thecrotch edges 21 and 22 while leaving the remaining edges of theauxiliary layers unsecured, two pockets or receptacles are provided fora sanitary napkin 30 (FIG. 2).

An advantageous feature of the present construction is that a sanitarynapkin 30 (FIG. 2) may be securely inserted between the top auxiliarylayer 20 and the medial auxiliary layer 40, and yet by reason of theporous fabric material constituting the panty, the napkin 30 is stillaccessible to menstrual fluids. When the top auxiliary layer 20 becomessoiled, the top auxiliary layer 20 may be discarded along with thenapkin and a second sanitary napkin inserted between the medialauxiliary layer 40 and the contiguous crotch are 13. It will beunderstood that the thread used to sew the plastic band and the edges ofthe auxiliary layers 20 and 40 to the panty is considerably strongerthan the material comprising the auxiliary layers 20 and 40, so thateither or both of these auxiliary layers can be easily torn or cut alongthe seam lines without weakening or breaking the seams.

A highly advantageous feature of the invention is that the panty ismanufactured from a single sheet of material. As shown in FIG. 1,additively the blank 50 includes the contiguous from body portion 9, therear body portion 10, and the connecting crotch portion 13. Arectangular flap extends laterally from one side of the crotch portion13, advantageously for a distance of twice the thickness of the crotchportion 13. This tab contains the fabric material for the medialauxiliary layer 40 and the top auxiliary layer 20 (FIGS. 2 and 4).

To manufacture the panty of the present invention, a blank 50 is cut inthe general shape of that shown in FIG. I. The width of the bodyportions 9 and 10 may addively equal the circumference of the panty or,for some panty constructions, may exceed the circumference to provide anoverlap zone so as to permit an even broader diversity of sizes to beaccommodated by a single garment.

Thus, in the blank 50 of FIG. I, the width of the body portions 9 and 10is about 2 inches larger than half the diameter of the final panty, andthe body portions between the waist and the leg openings 11, 12 (FIG. 2)are left unsecured.

After the blanks 50 are cut either by machine or by hand, the sewing andfolding process begins. Sewing is commenced at a point 51 about 2 inchesbeyond the corner 52 of the front body portion 9. White sewing the edge,an elastic band 15 (FIG. 3) is simultaneously and concurrently securedto the seam. The seam continues from the point 51 to a point 54.

At this stage the tab comprising the top auxiliary layer 20 and themedial auxiliary layer 40 is folded into a Z-shape, with the edge of thecrotch portion opposite the tab being adjacent to the fold line 42, thatis, the intersection between the top auxiliary layer 20 and the medialauxiliary layer 40. The free end of the tab, that is, the end of the topauxiliary layer 20 remote from the crotch area 13, is placed adjacentthe intersection or fold line 41, that is, the edge of the crotch areaconnecting the medial auxiliary portion 40. The successive folds at foldline 41 and then at fold line 42 are best shown in FIG. 3, with therespective folds indicated as Step (1)" and Step (2)."

After folding of the auxiliary layers, sewing is continued from thepoint 54 (FIG. 1) to the point 55, about 2 inches prior to the corner56. The point 52 is then brought under the bulk of material to the frontof the sewing machine and placed about 1 inch beyond the corner 56. Thisaccordingly provides an overlap of about 1 inch between the point 52 andthe point 56. Sewing is continued to a distance of about 1 inch beyondthe point 51, and the thread and elastic cut off.

The same sewing procedure is then repeated with respect to the left legopening 11, except of course that it is no longer necessary tomanipulate the auxiliary layers and 40.

Next, the elastic or strip rubber is sewn to the waist by holding thepartly fabricated panty inside out, which automatically permits thepanty to be finished right side out. Thus, the corners 58 and 59 areoverlappedjust as were the corners 52 and 56, and sewing is continuedalong one edge of the waist until the next overlap as before. As aresult, a finished garment is provided that is readily and economicallymanufactured, and which has advantageous features heretofore found onlyin more expensive panties.

Thus it is apparent that there has been provided according to theinvention a structure and method that fully satisfy the aims, objects,and advantages set forth earlier.

I claim as my invention:

1. A disposable panty comprising a contiguous front body portion, rearbody portion, and connecting crotch portion, said body portions forminga pair of leg openings on either side of said crotch portion, and topand medial auxiliary crotch layers successively contiguous to one sideof said crotch portion and each layer having a width equal to about thewidth of said crotch portion, the free end of said top auxiliary layerbeing secured to the edge of the crotch area connecting said medialauxiliary layer, and the opposite edge of the crotch area being securedto the intersection of said top and medial auxiliary layers so as toprovide two open-ended sanitary napkin receiving receptacles.

2. Panty of claim 1 including an elastic band sewed around each of saidleg openings.

3. A method of producing a disposable panty which comprises cutting froma single sheet of material a contiguous front body portion, rear bodyportion, connecting crotch portion, and top and medial auxiliaryportions having a width equal to about the width of said crotch portionbeing successively contiguous to one side of said crotch portion andextending transversely therefrom, folding said auxiliary portions intotop and medial auxiliary layers so that the free end of said topauxiliary layer is adjacent'the edge of the crotch area connecting saidmedial auxiliary portion, and the opposite edge of the crotch portion isadjacent the intersection of said top and said medial auxiliary layers,and securing said front and said rear body portions and said adjacentedges of said crotch area and said auxiliary layers so as to provide twoopen-ended sanitary napkin receiving receptacles.

4. Method of claim 3 wherein said adjacent edges of said crotch area andsaid auxiliary layers are secured prior to securing said front and saidrear body portions.

5. Method of claim 4 wherein said securing includes sewing elastic bandsconcurrently with said securing.

1. A disposable panty comprising a contiguous front body portion, rearbody portion, and connecting crotch portion, said body portions forminga pair of leg openings on either side of said crotch portion, and topand medial auxiliary crotch layers successively contiguous to one sideof said crotch portion and each layer having a width equal to about thewidth of said crotch portion, the free end of said top auxiliary layerbeing secured to the edge of the crotch area connecting said medialauxiliary layer, and the opposite edge of the crotch area being securedto the intersection of said top and medial auxiliary layers so as toprovide two open-ended sanitary napkin receiving receptacles.
 2. Pantyof claim 1 including an elastic band sewed around each of said legopenings.
 3. A method of producing a disposable panty which comprisescutting from a single sheet of material a contiguous front body portion,rear body portion, connecting crotch portion, and top and medialauxiliary portions having a width equal to about the width of saidcrotch portion being successively contiguous to one side of said crotchportion and extending transversely therefrom, folding said auxiliaryportions into top and medial auxiliary layers so that the free end ofsaid top auxiliary layer is adjacent The edge of the crotch areaconnecting said medial auxiliary portion, and the opposite edge of thecrotch portion is adjacent the intersection of said top and said medialauxiliary layers, and securing said front and said rear body portionsand said adjacent edges of said crotch area and said auxiliary layers soas to provide two open-ended sanitary napkin receiving recepticles. 4.Method of claim 3 wherein said adjacent edges of said crotch area andsaid auxiliary layers are secured prior to securing said front and saidrear body portions.
 5. Method of claim 4 wherein said securing includessewing elastic bands concurrently with said securing.